


Ghosts and lovers, they'll haunt you for awhile

by fleurlb



Category: Nashville (TV)
Genre: Gen, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-03-02 00:44:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2793593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurlb/pseuds/fleurlb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rayna, Juliette, and the girls enjoy an unexpected sleepover</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghosts and lovers, they'll haunt you for awhile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tamarind (rogue)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rogue/gifts).



> Thank you for the opportunity to write about one of my favorite characters. I hope you enjoy this gift.
> 
> The title comes from the Marissa Nadler song "Ghosts and Lovers".
> 
> Please know that my number one rule of writing is never let facts get in the way of a good story. You might have to hand-wave a little on certain small details. Any actual mistakes are mine.

The buzzing of Rayna's cell phone interrupted Juliette mid-sentence. _Saved by the buzz,_ Rayna thought, happy for the break. She'd spent the last hour trying to explain to the heavily pregnant singer why a comeback tour two months after the baby's due date wasn't a great idea. 

“I'm sorry, can you excuse me just one second?” asked Rayna. She got up and touched Juliette lightly on the shoulder as she stepped into the hallway. She glanced at her phone before answering and saw Teddy's face looking back at her.

“Teddy, how are you?” 

“Fine, Rayna. But I'm in a bit of a jam and I'm hoping you can help me out.”

That was Teddy – always right down to business. Rayna took a deep breath. “I can try.”

“You might not remember, but when you were on tour, Daphne was really struggling with her science and math classes.”

“I remember,” said Rayna.

“Then you might also remember that I promised her a special outing, her choice, if she brought her grades in both classes up to a B.”

“I also remember that.” 

“But here's the problem, it's an overnight in a suite at the Union Station Hotel on Friday, and now she really wants to invite Sage.”

Rayna smiled. The wedding was coming up, and her girl was so sweet and willing to welcome Sage into her family. “I see the problem here. You don't feel like you can chaperone a sleepover.”

“If it were just Maddie and Daphne, it's not an issue, but Sage's mom said she'd feel more comfortable if you were there.”

 _I bet she did,_ thought Rayna but let the thought go just as quickly. Some battles weren't worth fighting. “I can do it. I'd be happy to spend some time with all three girls.”

“Great,” said Teddy. “There's just one more thing.”

Rayna's stomach sank. She should've known that there would be one last thing. “What's that?”

“I also promised Daphne a tour of Nashville. You know, the ghost tour in the hearse.”

She sighed, a long quiet note that expelled her frustration at his masterful setup. She was pissed, too, but she had always promised herself that she wasn't going to be the kind of divorced parent who squabbled incessantly. That did no one any good.

“Teddy, you know how I feel about ghosts. And you also know I don't like being set up like this.” She kept her tone as level as possible, and she pressed the palm of one hand into her eye to steady the twitch that had set in.

“Rayna, I'm sorry, this just means so much to Daphne. I made the promise, but she's so desperate to include her new sister. I did the wrong thing for the right reason.”

“There's your tombstone phrase right there,” said Rayna, but there was no heat in it.

Teddy laughed. “I'll text you all the details. The tour guide will pick y'all up from the hotel at 4 on Friday.”

“All right. We'll be there with bells on.” Rayna disconnected the call, took a deep breath, and put on her most pleasant smile before she returned to her office.

“So what's all this about ghosts?” asked Juliette before Rayna was even back behind her desk.

“Girl, you have the ears of a bat!”

“My ears might be the only part of me that's still working normally.”

Rayna smiled. She loved her girls, but she also loved that the pregnancies were in her past. Growing another human in your body was no easy feat. “Teddy promised Daphne a ghost tour and night at the Union Station Hotel, but she invited Sage and now I'm chaperoning a ghoulfest and a sleepover.”

“Can I come along? I love ghost tours. I could do that part while you relax in the hotel. And I've never really been to a real sleepover.” Juliette's eyes shined with excitement.

“Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather be resting at home in peace and quiet? Sleepovers are a misnomer. There is no sleep.”

“Rayna, this baby is using my bladder as a trampoline. There's no sleep for me anyway. Let me tag along, please?” 

“Well, I suppose it would help to have another adult around for crowd control.”

“Crowd control? I thought there were only 3 of them.”

Rayna smiled. “You've got a lot to learn, honey.”

“Then teach me.”

“All right, meet us at the Union Station Hotel at 4 on Friday.” Rayna smiled as she tried not think about the possible disaster that this whole thing could turn into. She was just relieved that she wouldn't have take the ghoulish ghost tour.

\--//--  
On Friday afternoon, Rayna sat in the lobby of the Union Station Hotel with two bouncing, giggling girls and one sullen, mopey teenager. Daphne had tried to whisper the reasons behind Maddie's current mood, but the sound had been swallowed up by the immense lobby and the murmuring of tourists. Rayna thought it had something to do with a soccer game or a soccer player, with odds on it being a boy and not a missed goal.

Juliette joined them right on schedule, and Rayna introduced her to Sage.

“My daddy says that your grave song is a slap in the face to the country music 'stablishment.”  
Juliette's smile was forced and grim. “Does he now? Well, your Daddy's a smart man. But what do you think about the song?”

“I love it,” replied Sage while Juliette laughed, and Rayna relaxed. 

“Y'all ready for a spooky ghost tour?” asked Juliette. Rayna thought that Sage and Daphne might lose their heads if that vigorous nodding continued for even a second longer, but Maddie could manage only an apathetic half-shrug.

“You want to skip the tour, Mads, hang out with me in the suite?” asked Rayna.

Maddie rolled her eyes. “I'll go. It'll probably be lame.”

“It can't possibly be lame. I'm going to be there,” said Juliette as the younger girls giggled and even Maddie managed a wan smile. “Now Rayna, you go relax, I got this.”

“I can see that,” said Rayna, overwhelmed by a mix of feelings that she couldn't quite name, but she thought pride and hope might be in there. “All right, y'all be good, listen to Juliette, and don't get too scared, you hear?”

She gave each of the girls a hug and mouthed a big “thank you” to Juliette before heading toward the elevators and the peace of their suite.

\---//---  
Nearly three hours later, the girls returned, all high spirits and excitement. Daphne bolted into the room first and nearly knocked Rayna over.

“Mom! The tour was so cool! We learned so much. You know that creepy house way back from the road near our school? It's totally haunted. A guy went crazy in that house.”

“That's great, sugar,” said Rayna, trying not to mentally curse Teddy for making this ridiculous promise.

“And this hotel is also totally haunted. It used to be a train station hundreds of years ago and then there was a big accident and some of the people who died still wander the hotel, hoping to catch their train. And sometimes the whole hotel shakes because a ghost train comes through.”

“It wasn't hundreds of years ago,” said Maddie, her tone clearly suggesting that her sister was an idiot. “Trains weren't even invented hundreds of years ago.”

“Well,” amended Daphne. “It was a really, really, really long time ago.”

“Hey, be nice,” Rayna told Maddie, even though Daphne seemed undeterred in her excitement. “And what about you, Sage, Juliette, y'all have a good time too?”

“Juliette's in the bathroom. She needs to go all the time. The tour had to stop like six times,” said Sage.

“Well, that's what happens when a lady's pregnant.” 

“And I am really, truly pregnant,” said Juliette as she joined them. 

“You have a good time?” asked Rayna.

“The best.” Her smile looked genuine, even if her eyes looked more than a bit tired.

“Mom, we're hungry,” announced Daphne.

“Well, I was thinking about that. And rather than leave this great big beautiful room, I was thinking we'd get some Hattie B's delivered.”

Daphne jumped up and down. “Can we get the chicken damn hot?”

“You dork,” said Maddie. “You can barely handle it mild. You just like the chance to swear.”

“Maddie, what did I tell you about being nice to your sister?” asked Rayna.

Maddie's cheeks flushed, and Rayna could feel that there whole night going sideways, hit by a force even greater than an off-the-tracks train, but they were saved by an unusual source of grace.

“I'm not sure I can wait for the chicken. Who wants to help me see what's in the mini-bar?” asked Juliette.

“I do!” shouted Sage and Daphne, jumping around behind Juliette as they followed her into the next room.

“You want to tell me what's going on?” asked Rayna.

“Do I have to?” Maddie looked away, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

Rayna couldn't help but pull her into a great, smothering hug. The teenager resisted for a few seconds, but then gave in. Rayna pressed a few kisses to the top of her head, smelling a sweet but sharp citrusy scent. 

“You don't _have_ to tell me, but you know that you _can_ tell me anything, any time.”

“I know. I just don't want to talk about it right now. It's stupidity of the highest order.”

Rayna gave the girl one last squeeze before letting her go. “All right, hon, but you know where to find me when you need me. Now, let's order some chicken before those savages bankrupt me at the minibar.”

\---//---

After the girls had their fill of chicken and ghost stories with more gristly details than Rayna cared to remember, it was time to herd them into their bedroom. She tucked Daphne and Sage into one queen-sized bed while Maddie took the other bed, despite her sister's protestations that there was room enough for all of them in one bed. Then she joined Juliette in the suite's living room.

“That didn't take long,” said Juliette.

Rayna collapsed into an over-stuffed chair and gave a small laugh. “I doubt that's the last time I'll have to go into that room. I'm telling you, sleepovers are usually barely controlled chaos. The only thing we have going for us is that the numbers are in our favor.”

“It can't really be as bad as all that,” said Juliette.

“Believe me, it can. For Maddie's ninth party, she invited 20 girls over. The tears. The drama. The noise,” Rayna waved a hand like she was trying to clear the memory from the room. “It was nearly enough to make us ban all future sleepovers.”

Juliette rubbed her belly and smiled. “I guess it's all ahead me, although it feels like a long time before I have to worry about sleepovers.”

“It goes faster than you think. The hours drag, especially when the kids are tiny, but the days fly. And once they get into school, it's like you're all in a time-machine, zipping into the future sometimes faster than you want to. You feel like a couple of months have passed, but you know it's been years because your 'kindergartner' is suddenly doing multiplication tables and talking about boys.”

“Now see, that doesn't sound so bad. I'm dreading the baby days so much. Once the kid can talk, tell me what's wrong, I'll be fine. Plus, just the thought of diapers grosses me out.” 

“I nearly forgot all about diapers. Anyway, they're not that bad, at least in the first months. After your baby starts eating actual food, well, then, all bets are off.”

Rayna startled as a blood-curdling scream came from the bedroom. She jumped out of her chair and dashed into the room, Juliette trailing behind her. Her hand blindly scrabbled at the wall, eventually stumbling over the light switch. The room filled with bright light, and the two younger girls blinked at her in terror. Maddie groaned and threw an arm over her eyes. 

“What's going on?” asked Rayna as she sat on the edge of the bed. Daphne sat up and hugged her.

“We saw a ghost.”

“And where do you think you saw this ghost?” asked Rayna.

Sage pointed toward the window, where a fluffy white curtain billowed in the breeze.

“Girls, your imaginations just got the best of you. It's just a lacey curtain. The big drapes weren't closed and the window must be open.”

Juliette went over and playfully swatted at the lace curtain, then closed the window and pulled the draped shut. “No ghost here.”

“But Mom, we checked that window was closed before we went to bed. The ghost must have opened it.”

“I'm sure there's a logical explanation,” said Rayna, casting a laser-like eye at Maddie. The teenager squirmed uncomfortably.

“Daphne, it was me. While you and Sage were hiding under the blankets, telling more ghost stories, I opened the window and fluffed up the curtain.”

“See, there's no ghost in here. I'll make a deal with you girls – if you go straight to sleep now, we'll go to the Pancake Pantry for breakfast.”

“The Pancake Pantry!” exclaimed Daphne as she and Sage bounced on the bed with excitement. Even Maddie looked nearly interested for a change.

Rayna stood up. “But I mean it, straight to bed.”

\---//---  
Back in the living room, Juliette sat sideways in the middle of the couch, stretched out with her feet up on the arm.

“Are my ankles ever going to return to their normal size?”

“Of course they will. Everything just takes time.”

“Speaking of time, how long do you think it'll take them to go to sleep?”

Rayna considered the question. “Well, now that pancakes are on the table, I reckon that'll be the last outburst we hear. Don't mean they're asleep, but I'll take calm and quiet for now.”

“So, what've you got against ghosts? You don't believe in them?” asked Juliette, and Rayna was caught off-guard by the abrupt topic change.

“I just... I think there's somethings that shouldn't be messed around with.”

“So you do believe in them!” Juliette lay back and rolled to her side, settling in like a child waiting to hear a bedtime story.

“When my mother died, I was at a friend's house. It was the strangest thing. The lights flickered, and a door that was part-way closed swung open, like a strong breeze had gone through the house, even though it was dead calm.”

“Were you scared?” asked Juliette, her eyes wide.

“Now, that was the strangest part. I felt like a warm blanket had been put around my shoulders, a blanket that smelled like the wisteria in Mama's garden. Even though I didn't really understand what was happening, I always treasured that moment. So I just hate to see ghosts and spirits and the afterlife being turned into some lurid entertainment to make a quick buck.”

“You miss your mama?”

“Every day,” said Rayna with a sad smile. “Every damn day.”

Juliet sighed and shifted her gaze to look out the large picture window, the lights of Nashville glittering in the distance. “I sometimes miss my mama, who she was at the end, but there's just so much history there. Sometimes I wish she was here, so she could tell me what to do, how to take care of the baby, what to do about Avery, what it's like to have a baby. But then I think I wouldn't want to take her advice anyway, given what a terrible mother she was for most of her life.”

“I hear you,” said Rayna. “It's so hard not to have a mother when you're becoming one yourself.”

“What do you think your mother would've told you, when you were pregnant with Maddie?”

Rayna wondered if Juliette knew how loaded that question was, if she realized what had been going on then, how she'd been so torn between Teddy, with his dogged persistence and can-do attitude, and Deacon, who was creative and sexy and an absolute trainwreck. Her momentary paused stretched into an awkward silence.

“I'm sorry,” said Juliette. “You don't have to answer that. I know it's super-personal. But it feels like we're having a sleepover of our own. And isn't this what girls do at sleepovers?”

“It's not that,” started Rayna, searching for the right words. “It was just so complicated. I'll tell you what Lamar told me. Lamar told me to marry the man who was steady and reliable. Lamar also told me to quit my career and take care of my child the way a woman was meant to, full-time and inside the home.”

“So you half-listened to him?” 

“Yeah, I guess I did. I'm thinking my mama would've told me to follow my heart. I guess I half-listened to her too.”

“Do you believe in one true love?”

“Girl, you really are treating this like a sleepover.”

“Might be my last chance for one,” said Juliette with a smile.

“One true love. I think the idea of one true love makes for great songs, but I don't think there's one perfect person out there. If that were true, with six billion people in the world, the odds of meeting the one true love would be so small, no one would ever bother.”

Juliette laughed. “That would not make such a great song.”

“I think the best thing you can hope for in this world is to find a partner, a true partner who has your back and is in this crazy thing called life with you as an equal. It ain't easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.”

“I have so many more questions to ask you, but I think my eyes aren't going to stay open much longer. I also think there's no way I'm getting off this couch right now.”

Rayna laughed. “You don't have to ask me every question you have tonight. I'm always here for you, any time.”

“Thank you,” said Juliette. “That means a lot to me.”

Rayna smiled in acknowledgement, then got up and went into the other bedroom. By the time she returned with a pillow and blanket, Juliette was already asleep. She slipped the pillow under Juliette's head, smoothed her hair out gently, and covered her with the blanket.

After checking on the girls, Rayna paused in the doorway and looked at Juliette, sleeping peacefully on the couch. If someone had told her a few years ago that Juliette would be like family to her, Rayna would've laughed bitterly and asked to hear another good joke. But somehow, life had a funny way of slipping and sliding and spinning, all bets off until somehow, miraculously, you ended up exactly where you needed to be. And Rayna wouldn't have it any other way.

/fin


End file.
